Astoria musician to belt out one tune a week for a whole year online

Jamie Stellini posts her tunes, with a midnight Monday deadline, on her theweeklysong.com Web site. (Sunshine for News)

In a quiet, bright apartment in Astoria, an inspired mind began a year-long project 10 weeks ago that she would document online.

This is not the Julie/Julia project - where an amateur chef from Queens follows in the culinary footsteps of Julia Child. This is Jamie Stellini, a 32-year-old musician who is writing and recording one song per week for an entire year and posting the work on her Web site, theweeklysong.com.

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"I think a lot of people don't realize that creating music isn't this special thing that only special people can do," Stellini said. "I hope that this project is inspiring to people. Musicians are really just people telling stories."

Stellini, who describes her music as indie, folk and alternative-country, began "The Weekly Song" after a tumultuous period in her life. After living in New Orleans for two years under the wing of famed jazz musician Eddie Bo, Stellini said she began to experience manic episodes.

She spent a year back in New York dealing with what she learned was bipolar disorder, as well as a bad relationship, and didn't write or record for a year.

"Everything I went through suddenly sparked a lot of songs in me, which I played for a friend," Stellini said, referring to actress and Queens native Livia Scott. "She's an actress who's doing her own project where she creates a character and uploads a video of the character online every day, and I thought, why can't I do that?"

Accompanied by her dog Stella, her guitar and the Mac program GarageBand, Stellini began her venture. The demands of a full-time job in investment banking made creating a daily song impossible, so she settled on a weekly song.

She began the project with various rules, which included a midnight Monday deadline each week, and the rule that she was the only musician involved in the project. The latter changed quickly, however.

"It's a great experiment on the creative side," said friend Angela Bowers, 30, also from Astoria, who eventually got involved in the project, playing guitar on two of the tracks. "It's a challenge, but also special to be able to purge out your weekly emotions with songs and writing."

Stellini said she realized the notion of doing the project solo was selfish.

"There are so many talented people in Queens, and it's kind of like this isolated borough," Stellini said. "We don't talk to each other, but we should really all get together and put the creativity together."

Stellini is set to play at two shows in support of the project - one at Bowery Electric on Oct. 7 at 10 p.m., and the second at the Hellgate Social on Oct. 8 at 9 p.m.

When asked about comparisons to the work of Queens author Julie Powell - whose story is now a major motion picture, "Julie & Julia," starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams - Stellini shook her head.

"People have compared me to that, but I really only vaguely knew about it," she said.

"The idea of treating the creative process as a job - well, tons of people have done that," Stellini said. "For me, it's unlocking so much in me because I know that no matter what I do right or wrong this week, I know that next week, there will be another song."